The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has marked 2024 as the first year to cross the 1.5ºC temperature threshold defined by the Paris Agreement. At the conclusion of COP29, labelled the ‘Finance COP’, the countries signed an agreement of $300 billion annually by 2035 in climate financing, which is a fraction of the proposed $3 trillion annually required for successful climate action in developing countries.
At a time when insufficient climate finance can potentially derail low-carbon transitions in developing nations, India has rightly asserted the need to focus its climate action plans towards climate adaptation. Over the coming years, the country’s high vulnerability to the climate crisis is going to affect the Indian populace with increasing risk of high humidity-induced heat stress, rainfall-induced disasters such as landslides and flash floods, and growing rates of tropical cyclones and perennial droughts. Therefore, just planning for the transition towards green energy and non-renewable sources will not suffice in the immediate future without significant adaptation and mitigation measures out into place.
One of the climate adaptation strategy announcements during the Union Budget speech was the multi-sectoral Rural Prosperity and Resilience programme, which aims to aid climate-resistant crop yield and sustainable agriculture. According to the Budget speech, one of its potential impacts stated by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is, “that migration [becomes] an option, but not a necessity.”
Findings from our previous field studies have regularly demonstrated that the acquiescence of migration by members of communities that have historically depended on forests and agriculture often stems from water shortages, land degradation and erratic rainfall caused by shifting climate patterns, in their villages of origin. This has forced many young members to migrate outside of their homes for work in the informal sector marked by exploitation and meagre wages. With the expansion of the Aspirational District Programme under the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, there is scope for implementing measures to enhance agriculture and adopting sustainable agri-practices. Yet, its focus on the agri-economy leaves out the prospect of diversification of trade and livelihood opportunities in rural areas.
The Budget has emphasised the government’s increasing priority of enhancing critical infrastructures towards green energy transition and building its capacity outside the coal-heavy energy production. However, the Economic Survey 2025 has pointed out the paradox India faces around its coal-fired energy production systems. Most capacity additions to the coal-fired power plants in India were made only in the 2010s. Hence, any under-utilising or phasing out of these major investments would be economically unfeasible for the country without any replacement energy sources at this scale. Moreover, the coal sector employs about 13 million people, in formal jobs and majorly in induced and informal jobs with the lives and livelihoods of communities in neighbouring areas around coal mining regions being heavily dependent on coal.
Beyond solely focusing on green energy, India can expand its climate action by prioritising initiatives in areas like sustainable transportation and mobilities in urban centres (incentivising electric vehicles, adequate public transport, congestion pricing in metropolitan cities), improved energy efficiency in building construction and green certification, responsible land use and management of the commons (forest conservation and afforestation,), circular economy practices, sustainable and climate resilient agriculture, and robust carbon capture and storage technologies enabling carbon credit trading and revenue generation for state governments and local communities – while aiming for a holistic approach to reduce greenhouse gases and carbon emissions across various sectors.
The urgency and scale of the climate crisis impacts require additional targeted policies keeping vulnerable communities potentially affected at the centre of policy attention. A community-led perspective of the impacts of climate change can essentially lead to informed policymaking and legislation across rural and urban planning, labour productivity, women’s inclusion in the workforce, and a climate-focused sustainable development approach.
This article is authored by Arindam Banerjee, partner & co-founder and Harshika Tripathi, assistant consultant. communications & policy, Policy and Development Advisory Group.
